MEET BILLIE
Mom of two, avid DIYer, coffee obsessed, creative spirit and Founder, CEO & Inventor of the Repaint Tray
In early 2021, Billie started her own business in her little basement studio refinishing and refurbishing furniture. She quickly noticed all the constant waste she was going through with plastic paint tray liners and not being able to reuse them. Naturally, the environmental impact became a factor, so she went to Amazon to find a reusable paint tray and didn't find one. Surely Google had to have something; but by the 3rd or 4th page, nothing was showing up.
She contacted a friend who knew how to search patents a little more in depth and had him do a search. Nothing.
Needless to say, she jumped on the opportunity and filed a patent for the reusable, silicone paint tray liner; added a lid and the Repaint Tray was born. But that was the easy part. The hard work was just beginning.
January 2021
The idea for Repaint Tray was born.
Fall 2021
Billie enrolled in the Pappajohn Center Venture School program while pregnant and won runner up in pitch competition.
February 2021
Provisional patent was filed.
February 2022
Non-provisional patent filed and baby #2 was born.
Summer 2021
Basic at home prototyping and silicone research began.
June 2022
Won 3rd place at the Entrefest pitch competition in Iowa City, IA and recognized as one of the Top 10 Venture School Start-ups in the state of Iowa.
Currently
Working with professional company to receive product samples and start raising funds for manufacture!
